Christmas Is A’ coming

This is such a fun time of the year.  Most of us have wonderful, happy memories of Christmases past.  I trust you are making an effort to provide your little one with special memories so that as he grows he will be able to look back on his life and recall Christmastime as being wonderful, too.

There are some simple, easy, fast, and inexpensive ways to help provide some really special memories for a wee one.  It’s really easy to snap a few pictures with a camera or a cell phone of him during activities.  Looking back at those pictures as he grows and talking about it with him is a great way to increase vocabulary.  And as my youngest told me as she perused my photo albums as she became older, “Mom, I’m not sure if I still remember these times, or if I just remember enjoying seeing the pictures over the years.”

It probably doesn’t matter one way or the other. The point is that she had pictures of her and her siblings having fun together, she had memories that were happy even if they were not of the actual event, and she could recall enjoying reliving those times year after year.

The internet, magazines, television, and newspapers, all have lots of information about things to do with children during the holidays.  If you didn’t make a paper chain from which he can remove a link each night until Christmas Eve, or you aren’t using an advent calendar, I saw a great idea for showing a young child how long before Christmas:  Get a picture of Santa from a coloring book or some other place.  Depending on the size of Santa’s beard and how many days before Christmas, draw the same number of circles as days left.  Then provide cotton balls, white tissue paper, or even a toilet tissue square he can scrunch.  Then with a spot of glue, allow him to fill a circle each night.  When Santa’s beard is complete…it’s Christmas.

For a fun snack, provide a graham cracker square, two small pretzel twists, peanut butter, two raisins, a red M&M, and a plastic knife or craft/popsicle stick.  Assist as needed to smear the peanut butter on the cracker.  Put one pretzel in each of the upper corners for ears.  Place the raisins between the lower edges of the “ears” for the eyes.  Then let him finish with the red candy at the lower center of the cracker.  It’s Rudolph!

If you have a Nativity scene and you don’t fear it will get broken, consider allowing a young child to handle and place the pieces as he chooses.  Talk to him as he interacts with the characters and sing “Away in a Manger” or “Silent Night.”  He will feel your reverence for the reason for the season, and the story will become more real to him.

Whatever you do, don’t get so caught up in plans and a “To Do” list that you forget to enjoy your child or the Season.  Continue to work toward becoming a more gentle parent-  “Breathe.”  Don’t start your day with the broken pieces of yesterday.  Every day is a fresh start.  Every morning you wake up is the first day of the rest of your life…and that of your precious child.  God bless you and happy, gentle parenting.

   ©2014 Brenda Holland-Robinson